A special holiday issue sporting stories about the winter season has been a semi-annual tradition at Asimov’s, and we’re delighted that this year the holiday spirit returns to the magazine with a brand new novelette by Connie Willis. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll read this story on the edge of your seat as New York Theater comes alive and an aging Broadway star contends with a very unusual protogeé  in “All About Emily.”

ALSO IN DECEMBER ISSUE

New author Suzanne Palmer makers her Asimov’s entrance with a wild tale about a team of xenobiologists whose accademic voyage of exploration goes all-together differently from what (most) of them expected; new author Ken Liu offers us a heart-breaking mystery about a young boy making sense of the world in “The Countable”; Pamela Sargent looks at a group of children growing up in the fifties and reveals the truth behind “Strawberry Birdies”; in his devestating new story, Ferrett Steinmetz shows us why it’s a good idea to move quickly when “ ‘Run,’ Bakri Says”; with his usual sardonic humor, Tim McDaniel demonstrates why a certain element would go to any length to get a hold of “The List”; and in a poignant visit to the future Steve Rasnic Tem discovers that there’s more than one type of “Ephemera.”

Robert Silverberg’s “Reflections” investigates “The Strange Case of the Patagonian Giants” and we’ll have Peter Heck’s “On Books” column, plus an array of poetry and other features you’re sure to enjoy. Look for our December issue on sale at newsstands on October 4, 2011. Or you can subscribe to Asimov’s—in paper format or in downloadable varieties—by visiting us online at www. asimovs.com. We’re also available individually or by subscription on Amazon.com’s Kindle, BarnesandNoble.com’s Nook, ebook store.sony.com’s eReader and from Zinio.com!

new stories by Elizabeth Bear, Paul McAuley, Ken Liu, Kit Reed, Jack McDevitt, Rudy Rucker & Eileen Gunn, David Ira Cleary, Tom Purdom, Zachary Jernigan, C.W. Johnson, Bruce McAllister & Barry Malzberg, and many others!